Ming politicians

(Thanks to my old friend 1949, and to the readers who have supported me greatly. I will continue to work hard in the future.)

After entering the house, Su Tiancheng didn't care about other things. How the tenant's house was furnished and whether there was decent furniture were not important things for the time being. He went straight to the rice vat and lifted the lid on it.

Every household in the Fucheng area of ​​Pingyang has rice vats. To see how the conditions are, the key point is to see how much rice or wheat noodles there are.

Inside the huge rice vat, very few wheat noodles could be seen. Su Tiancheng bent down as hard as he could, inserted his hand into the wheat noodles, and estimated how much wheat noodles were left.

"Is the wheat flour in this rice jar the food that your whole family has?"

"Master, this is all the food for the whole family. We really can't pay the rent."

"It's only the end of October. This wheat flour is enough for a family of three for a month. The winter wheat will be planted soon. Next year's wheat harvest will still be in May. Your family only has this grain. What will you eat in a month's time? ah."

The man's lips trembled a little, probably because he didn't expect the master to say such words.

"The tenants haven't started to plant winter wheat yet. What's the reason?"

The man looked at Su Tiancheng, but said nothing, probably because he had some scruples.

Su Pingyang also lowered his head and did not speak.

"You don't say anything, let me guess, is it because the Su family is forcing you to pay the rent? You even handed over the seeds. Now there are no winter wheat seeds, and there is no food at home, so you can't sow seeds. There is no need to plow the fields."

The man lowered his head, and the woman behind him wanted to speak, but when he saw the man like this, he stopped talking.

It was the little girl who spoke.

"Master, there is no wheat noodles at home. I can't eat enough. Father is going to ask me to go to a rich family to eat white noodles."

Su Tiancheng's body began to tremble, and he picked up the little girl in his arms.

"There is no food to eat, are you going to sell your daughter?"

The man and the woman knelt down in front of Su Tiancheng.

"Master, there is really nothing we can do. The child followed us, but starved to death. Last year and the year before last, the harvest was not good. After paying the rent, there was almost no food at home. I originally thought that this year's harvest would be better. To make up for the rent owed, who knows that this year's harvest is even worse, many people have run out of food, our family is better off, and there is still some food, but it can only be eaten for more than a month, and the seeds can't be saved ah."

Holding the little girl in his arms, Su Tiancheng hurried forward, stretched out his right hand, and was about to help the two of them up. Su Pingyang, who was beside him, reacted quickly, and had already gone thousands of miles to help them up.

"You planted my family's land and it fell into the current field. This is all the problem of the Su family. I am here to apologize to you. It is absolutely impossible to have no food. The Su family cannot starve to death. All the tenants of the Su family , We must get through this winter, winter wheat must be sown, I will find a solution to the problem of food, the seeds must be preserved, and we cannot eat them all."

Su Pingyang was stunned. The young master actually said such a big word. The Su family has more than 300 tenants. How much food do these many tenants need? There are still seven months to go, even if each family solves five buckets a month. The total number of wheat noodles is more than 200 Shimai noodles, which is equivalent to nearly 400 taels of silver. Where can I find so much silver?

The man probably thought he heard it wrong, there is no such thing as the master giving food to the tenants.

"Master, let's find a way by ourselves, as long as we don't urge us to pay the rent."

"Don't worry, I mean what I say. Uncle, for all the tenants in the Su Mansion, how much food is stored in the family and how long can it be maintained? Make a statistics to see the total number of gaps. Within this month, each family will settle at least one stone. Wheat noodles, get over the current difficulties, and slowly find a way later, the most urgent thing is to organize all the tenants to sow winter wheat."

"Master, there are a total of 350 tenants in the Su Manor, and each household pays for a shi of wheat noodles, a total of 350 shi. With these wheat noodles, it will not be a big problem to maintain them until the Chinese New Year."

"I know that it will not be maintained until the Chinese New Year, but after May next year. This data must be calculated. The tenants of the Su family cannot sell their children, let alone starve to death. Uncle, You are the housekeeper of the Su Manor now, if such a problem arises, I will not be polite."

"Master, within three days, I will solve this problem."

"Okay, I think it's better for the head of the village and Chief A to come forward to make statistics, so the speed will be faster."

The core of the household registration management system in the Ming Dynasty was the lijia system. Every 110 households were called a li, which was called a fang in the city. Ten households were selected as li chiefs, and the remaining 100 households were divided into ten Jia. head.

There are 350 tenant households in the Su Mansion. According to the requirements, there are [-] Lichang and [-] Jiashou. It is much more efficient to organize these people to count and urge production.

After Su Tiancheng said these words, the man finally believed that what the young master of the Su family said was true.

He pulled the woman down to her knees.

"Master's great kindness, we will always remember it for the rest of our lives."

Su Tiancheng was still hugging the little girl, and the tenant kowtowed to him, he didn't feel majestic, on the contrary, he was full of sadness.

"Get up, the child is very hungry, and there are still some wheat noodles at home. Make a good meal to feed the little girl. Within three days, the wheat noodles can be distributed. For the time being, I will solve so much for now. Today I will start Coming to your house means that we are destined, and you have to take the lead in sowing winter wheat."

"Okay, after eating, I'll go to the field. If you have wheat noodles, you will definitely plant winter wheat."

Su Tiancheng is very careful, his habit, everything he does must be put into practice, otherwise it will be empty talk.

"No, there is still a problem here."

Su Pingyang looked at the young master and didn't speak. He had already guessed what the young master was concerned about.

"If there are no winter wheat seeds sown, the big guy has gone to the field, and there is still nothing to do. Besides, the dryness in this field is unspeakable. Planting the seeds will not have much effect. "

"Master, there are still a lot of winter wheat seeds in the mansion. The master arranged to keep these seeds to supply [-] hectares of land. There will be no problem. It's just that there is a lack of water. It's hard to think of a solution for the time being. "

Su Tiancheng smiled.

"How can a living person be suffocated by urine? There is always a way to figure it out."

None of Su Pingyang's men thought that Su Tiancheng would say such words. They wanted to laugh, but couldn't open their mouths.

"Uncle, it's still the same thing as I just said. Please help the head of the village and Jiashou to help organize the winter wheat seeds. The Su Mansion will provide all the seeds. After subsidizing the food and distributing the seeds, organize everyone to dig ditches and dig wells to get water. If there is a lot of money, all of this will be recorded in the account, and when there is money, the Su Mansion will subsidize it, I don’t know if this method is feasible.”

"Young master, I will handle this matter. The young master has arranged it, and I will definitely implement it."

The man's face was flushed, obviously thinking about talking.

"If you have anything to say, just say it, don't hold back."

"Master, my name is Niu Er. The master has already treated our tenants with great grace. If anyone does not follow the master's arrangement, I will find him desperately."

"Hehe, Niu Er, don't get excited. We discuss and handle all the things. There are still many things that need to be implemented step by step. If you are poor, you want to change. If this continues, I won't be able to bear it next year. It’s just talking about it, but you still need to do the specific things.”

Next, Su Tiancheng continued to visit several tenants, but none of them got up. Niu Er accompanied him and Su Pingyang.

The son of the Su Mansion came to the tenants' homes, each tenant, the Su Mansion gave a stone of wheat flour, and distributed all the winter wheat seeds. The news spread quickly.

Many tenants didn't believe it, how could such a thing happen, but Niu Er said it vividly, although the master was young, after he came to his house, he said it very simply, the tenants of the Su Mansion are not allowed to starve If one person dies, the sale of children and daughters is not allowed, and each household's one stone of wheat noodles will be implemented within three days.The food that the master gives to each tenant is not just a stone of wheat noodles, but it will last until May of next year, before the winter wheat is purchased.

Niu Er tried his best to promote it, and the master arranged for everyone to start planting winter wheat, dig ditches, and dig wells for water. The master also said that the living should not be suffocated to death by urine.